TCM Schedule for Thursday, June 7 -- What's On Tonight: Teen Idols

[Staph]

In the daylight hours, we're celebrating Virginia McKenna, born Virginia Anne McKenna on June 7, 1931, in Marylebone, London, England, UK. McKenna is best remembered today for Born Free (1966), and she and husband Bill Travers went on to found the Born Free Foundation in 1984. She was awarded the O.B.E. (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in the 2004 Queen's New Year's Honours List for her services to wildlife and to the arts.

In prime time, we're looking at Teen Idols, starting with the irrepressible Elvis Presley. Enjoy!


6:30 AM -- The Barretts Of Wimpole Street (1957)
C-105 min, TV-G
Poet Elizabeth Barrett defies her tyrannical father for the love of Robert Browning.
Dir: Sidney Franklin
Cast: Jennifer Jones, John Gielgud, Bill Travers

Director Sidney Franklin, who also directed The Barretts of Wimpole Street (1934 - starring Norma Shearer, Frederic March and Charles Laughton), used the script of the earlier film word for word.


8:30 AM -- Carve Her Name With Pride (1958)
119 min, TV-PG
When her husband is killed in World War II, an Englishwoman risks her life as a spy.
Dir: Lewis Gilbert
Cast: Virginia McKenna, Paul Scofield, Jack Warner

After firing machine guns, jumping from a parachute training platform, spending weeks learning unarmed combat, wading through an ice cold lake at night, spending many hours doing physical jerks and cross country runs, there was one thing that made actress Virginia McKenna scream with terror: a cockroach in a pile of vegetables.


10:30 AM -- Simba (1955)
C-99 min, TV-14
A European family gets caught between English colonists and African rebels.
Dir: Brian Desmond-Hurst
Cast: Dirk Bogarde, Donald Sinden, Virginia McKenna

This was Lippert Pictures last release in the USA.


12:15 PM -- A Town Like Alice (1958)
C-116 min, TV-PG
Set in 1941, a British woman captured by the Japanese army meets an Australian soldier and settles in his town after the war.
Dir: Jack Lee
Cast: Virginia McKenna, Peter Finch, Takagi (Takagi)

According to the book 'The Golden Gong - Fifty years of the Rank Organisation, its films and its stars' by Quentin Falk, "While at premiere of a Disney film, Robin Hood, Earl St. John was particularly impressed by the young man who played the Sheriff of Nottingham. The name on the programme was that of Peter Finch. St John bumped into Finch on the stairs of the theatre and invited him to come and talk business at Pinewood. Next day he gave Finch what would be a pivotal role in his burgeoning career: the Australian soldier, Joe, in A Town Like Alice."


2:15 PM -- Born Free (1966)
C-95 min, TV-PG
A game warden and his wife face a wrenching decision when the lion cub they've raised becomes too big to keep.
Dir: James Hill
Cast: Virginia McKenna, Bill Travers, Geoffrey Keen

Won Oscars for Best Music, Original Music Score -- John Barry, and Best Music, Original Song -- John Barry (music) and Don Black (lyrics) for the song "Born Free". John Barry was not present at the awards ceremony.

The lions "Boy", "Girl" and "Ugas" were freed upon completion of filming. Under protest by the film studio who wanted to sell the lions to zoos to get some money back from filming.


4:00 PM -- Storm Over Jamaica (1958)
C-103 min, TV-PG
A schoolteacher at a progressive school in Jamaica attempts to help a troubled student.
Dir: Rudolph Cartier
Cast: Virginia McKenna, Bill Travers, Yvonne Mitchell

Virginia appears here with her second husband, Bill Travers, her frequent co-star. Her first husband was Denholm Elliot, aka Marcus Brody of the Indiana Jones film series.


6:00 PM -- Ring Of Bright Water (1969)
C-107 min, TV-G
A pet-shop otter changes a man's life when he feels compelled to move it to the Scottish coast.
Dir: Ernie Lewis
Cast: Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna, Peter Jeffrey

Based on the true story of Gavin Maxwell, who bought an otter in Iraq and brought it back to his home in Scotland, only to discover that this was a subspecies of otter not yet recorded. Maxwell gave his name to the new sub species' title: Lutrogale perspicillata maxwelli.



TCM PRIMETIME - WHAT'S ON TONIGHT: STAR OF THE MONTH: TEEN IDOLS


8:00 PM -- Jailhouse Rock (1957)
96 min, TV-G
After learning to play the guitar in prison, a young man becomes a rock 'n roll sensation.
Dir: Richard Thorpe
Cast: Elvis Presley, Judy Tyler, Mickey Shaughnessy

Elvis Presley refused to watch this movie because of Judy Tyler's tragic accidental death in a car wreck July 4, 1957, three days after filming was completed.


10:00 PM -- All Hands On Deck (1961)
100 min, TV-G
Dir: Norman Taurog
Cast: Pat Boone, Buddy Hackett, Dennis O'Keefe

Filmed in part on the USS St. Clair County.


12:00 AM -- Rebel Without a Cause (1955)
C-111 min, TV-PG
An alienated teenager tries to handle life's troubles and an apron-wearing dad.
Dir: Nicholas Ray
Cast: James Dean, Natalie Wood, Sal Mineo

Nominated for Oscars for Best Actor in a Supporting Role -- Sal Mineo, Best Actress in a Supporting Role -- Natalie Wood, and Best Writing, Motion Picture Story -- Nicholas Ray

Natalie Wood was first considered too naive and wholesome for the role of Judy. She began changing her looks and eventually attracted the notice of director Nicholas Ray, who began an affair with her but still would not guarantee her the part, though he eventually relented. Both Ray and Wood later claimed that he changed his mind after she was in a car accident with Dennis Hopper and someone in the hospital called her a "goddamn juvenile delinquent".


2:00 AM -- The Girl He Left Behind (1956)
103 min, TV-G
A college dropout has no choice but to go into the Army.
Dir: David Butler
Cast: Tab Hunter, Natalie Wood, Jesse Royce Landis

Filmed at Fort Ord, California.


4:00 AM -- See Here, Private Hargrove (1944)
101 min, TV-G
A green recruit has a series of madcap adventures in the Army.
Dir: Wesley Ruggles
Cast: Robert Walker, Donna Reed, Keenan Wynn

Based on the real-life exploits of journalist Marion Hargrove. Hargrove asked permission to consult on the movie, but the Army denied his request.

[Graybeard]

1. Judy Tyler in Jailhouse Rock.

Before going to Hollywood Judy Tyler was a NY actress who worked regularly on the TV show Howdy Doody. She played the American Indian "Princess SummerFallWinterSpring".